Hates Evil Like an Enemy

Green Ox Town.

Moonlight spilled over a low, modest courtyard in Poorfolk Alley.

Inside the west wing.

On a little bed cobbled together from rotten planks.

Fu Shaoping sat cross-legged, his hands clasped in the midnight-noon seal, his eyelids lowered and his tongue pressed against his palate. His heart, spirit, and intent rested at his navel, his thoughts unwavering. After some time, his awareness sank with his intent. His head and hands seemed to vanish, leaving only a faint thread of true breath flowing in and out of his navel, steady and unmoving.

"So this is the first level of the Body Tempering Realm?"

Fu Shaoping opened his eyes with delight.

He clenched a fist in the air.

Feeling the strength coursing through his palm.

At last, the great stone weighing on Fu Shaoping's heart fell away.

Two years earlier, his father had died in the line of duty.

Under the Martial Suppression Bureau's rules, if he could enter the Body Tempering Realm within three years, he could follow in his father's footsteps and become a member of the bureau.

Of course, he would start at the very bottom, among the Martial Suppression Guards.

Above the Martial Suppression Guards were Commandants, Junior Banners, Chief Banners, and other ranks.

Fu Shaoping glanced at the darkness outside. It was time to brew his mother's medicine. Once it was ready, he could go to the Hundred Households Office to register and officially join the Martial Suppression Bureau.

He was halfway to his feet.

When suddenly.

A flash of golden light appeared in his mind.

Amid that golden radiance.

A gleaming golden codex slowly emerged within his mind.

At its top, the words "Mystic Mandate Codex" were boldly inscribed.

Sixteen mysterious runes were engraved around the Treasure Mirror. All of them lit up, and the entire Treasure Mirror trembled slightly.

Then.

Within the Treasure Mirror.

Lines of text flipped past rapidly:

"Great wealth and high status"

"Everlasting life, undying"

"A great vessel, late to completion"

"Living off a woman, yet calling the shots"

"."

Each line was a different color.

After watching for a moment, Fu Shaoping began to suspect that the Treasure Mirror was cycling through possible fates for him.

At that thought.

Fu Shaoping could not help growing nervous.

He prayed inwardly:

Give me eternal youth!

The Heavenly Martial Dynasty he lived in had nearly a thousand years of history, yet its founding ruler, the Heavenly Martial Emperor, was still alive. Clearly, this was a world where martial power reached extraordinary heights. Naturally, he wanted everlasting life too!

Buzz!!

The sixteen runes around the Treasure Mirror trembled in unison. Their light went out one by one, and the Treasure Mirror stopped flipping.

Now.

The final line on the Treasure Mirror read:

[Fate: Hates Evil Like an Enemy]

[Attribute: Punish the guilty; hold it ever in mind, and every act shall receive a response]

Fu Shaoping swallowed hard as he read the pronouncement.

It was telling him to become a champion of justice!

Still.

On second thought.

The Martial Suppression Bureau he would be joining had been established to suppress aristocratic clans and martial artists of the jianghu. It was much the same calling.

Fu Shaoping was the sort to take things as they came, and he soon accepted this fate.

The fate itself was easy enough to understand.

The key word in the attribute was probably "every." In other words, whenever he punished a criminal, he would receive a reward!

Work brought rewards, and more work brought more rewards!

Fu Shaoping was suddenly brimming with motivation.

At the same time, he wondered:

What exactly was the "response" the Mystic Mandate Codex spoke of?

Fu Shaoping had a vague guess, but he would have to test it to know for certain.

He had only just reached the first level of the Body Tempering Realm. He was merely a little stronger than an ordinary person, and his strength was still meager. Going out to capture criminals now was plainly unrealistic.

After considering it for a moment.

Fu Shaoping's eyes brightened slightly:

"I've got it!"

Green Ox Town had no county yamen, so the Hundred Households Office had established its own prison.

Eight or nine out of ten people locked up there were guilty. If he could find a way to get in and administer punishments, wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to test the fate attribute in the Mystic Mandate Codex?

However.

He would not be the one who had captured those criminals.

If he only administered their punishment, he did not know whether it would count as his own merit.

"I'll know once I try."

With his mind made up, Fu Shaoping briskly got out of bed, took a packet of medicinal herbs from the large wooden cabinet in his room, and pushed open the door. With light steps, he headed to the thatched kitchen and began lighting a fire to brew the medicine.

Half an hour later.

A faint medicinal fragrance filled the courtyard.

Only after pouring the medicine into a bottle and setting it in warm water did Fu Shaoping leave the kitchen.

The small courtyard was divided down the middle.

The other side was rented by Sister Zhou, who sold tofu.

He had been only thirteen when his father died in the line of duty. All he could do was take odd jobs and run errands, but his meager earnings barely kept food on the table. The household's head tax, corvée tax, and his mother's medicine had all drained his father's savings like flowing water.

His father had been nothing more than a low-ranking Martial Suppression Guard.

The family's savings had long since run dry.

Otherwise, they would not have been sharing a little courtyard with someone else. Fortunately, their neighbor Zhou Pan'er was kindhearted and often helped care for his bedridden mother. Without her, he would never have been free to go out and earn money.

Zhou Pan'er and her brother, who had only just turned seven, had no one but each other.

Returning peach for plum, Fu Shaoping came over before dawn every day to help Zhou Pan'er set up her stall.

Now.

As he reached the kitchen on the other side.

Zhou Pan'er had just pulled out the flatbed cart she used for her stall.

Without needing a word, Fu Shaoping went straight into the kitchen and picked up the tubs of tofu pudding, one in each hand.

Before he had broken through to the Body Tempering Realm, each tub, weighing nearly fifty jin, had felt rather heavy. Today, after hefting them, he felt as though each weighed only five jin.

Zhou Pan'er was a businesswoman.

Her eyes were sharp.

She spotted the difference at once, both startled and delighted:

"Shaoping, you... you've broken through to the Body Tempering Realm?"

"Yes, I just broke through this morning."

"Oh, this is wonderful news! Shaoping, you and Aunt Jiang have finally tasted sweetness after all that bitterness."

Zhou Pan'er was genuinely happy for Fu Shaoping.

He was less than three years younger than her, yet he had entered the Body Tempering Realm at fifteen. That was rare in Green Ox Town. Barring any mishaps, Shaoping should be able to climb a step higher than his father and become a Commandant.

Zhou Pan'er looked at Fu Shaoping with warm satisfaction.

Only to find.

That before she had even realized it.

The little brat who had once done nothing but bury himself in training had grown into a handsome young man.

Zhou Pan'er smiled and said:

"Shaoping, wait here a moment."

Her little feet carried her swiftly into the east wing. After rummaging through chests and cupboards, she came out holding a bag and offered it to Fu Shaoping:

"I heard that once Martial Suppression Guards register, they're assigned to different Commandants. Take these copper coins and exchange them for loose silver at the silver shop. You'll have use for it at the Hundred Households Office."

Zhou Pan'er had saved those coins one by one, leaving early and returning late every day.

Warmth flowed through Fu Shaoping's heart. He did need silver to smooth his way, so he did not stand on ceremony. He cupped his hands in thanks, silently vowing that he would repay her tenfold someday.

Together, they pushed the cart to her stall on East Street.

Fu Shaoping ate a bowl of tofu pudding. Once the silver shop opened, he exchanged the copper coins in his hands and found that they amounted to a full seven taels of silver.

Sister Zhou has emptied out all her savings for this.

Beyond his shock, Fu Shaoping was deeply moved.

When he left the silver shop.

Daylight had arrived.

The town's streets were growing crowded.

Carrying this enormous sum, Fu Shaoping hurried toward the Hundred Households Office.

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